Many very different ways of preparing labels are known. It can be done by engraving the desired symbols on a carrier material of appropriate shape or by providing a piece of roughened plastic foil with the symbols--for example, by putting the symbols on with a typewriter and then cementing the piece of foil bearing the symbols onto a carrier foil. It can also be done by cementing the symbols on a transparent plastic foil, with a varnish which is or becomes transparent at the latest after hardening and which has an index of refraction sufficiently similar to that of the plastic foil. The varnish may be sprayed or painted on the foil. Suitable varnishes with the required qualities are known, but plastic varnishes are recommended, especially those which are irreversible when hardened. For instance, a two-component varnish may be used, such as the well-known "DD" varnishes which, when hardener is added, cross-link to form a plastic coating.
The method of preparing a rather large number of labels by imprinting the symbols on individual backings cut to size by the silk-screen process is also known. However, that is a method which is only useful when a large number of labels, all bearing the same symbols or the same lettering, is required.
Another method for preparing a number of labels consists of putting all of the desired symbols or lettering on one base--with a typewriter, with letters which are applied by rubbing, or the like--and then cutting up the base to make the individual labels. It is relatively easy to perform such a cutting process if the base is a sheet of paper or a thin plastic foil. However, the cutting becomes difficult if the base is relatively stiff, or, if after the symbols have been put on, the base is reinforced by cementing on a relatively stiff plastic foil covering the symbols or by cementing a backing foil onto the back of the base. For practical purposes, a base reinforced in that way cannot be cut up in the usual manner so that all labels are of the same size and the lettering is located centrally on all labels and the edges of the individual labels are exactly straight and run exactly parallel and/or perpendicular to each other.
All of these methods of preparation have a disadvantage when they are used in the preparation of individual labels for the many uses to which they can be put, e.g., for switchboards and other installations, where a large number of labels of the same size, but with different lettering, is required.
Therefore, it is the object of the invention to provide a method which makes it possible to prepare a large number of individual labels whose symbols or letters are first put on a base which is common to all labels and which thereafter is cut in such a way that the edges of the individual labels are exactly parallel and/or perpendicular to each other, with the lettering being located centrally on the individual labels if that is desired.
A method for preparing a large number of labels has been devised in which the symbols for the labels are put on a base arranged in marked rows and columns, a transparent plastic foil is then cemented onto the face of the base and/or a backing foil or material is cemented onto the back of the base. The base which has been reinforced in that way is then cut up in one of two methods. One method is to first cut the base so that two adjoining edges of the base, which is bound with the plastic foil and/or the carrier foil or material, are cut at right angles to each other, so that one edge runs parallel to the rows on which the symbols have been placed and the other edge runs perpendicular to those rows. The base is then laid with one of its edges against a bearing surface and cut along the markings which are parallel to the cutting edge (perpendicular to the edge bearing on the bearing surface). The resulting strips made in this way are reassembled in the same sequence and aligned by means of a carrier foil or material. The reassembled base is then laid with its second adjoining edge on a bearing surface and cut along the markings (perpendicular to said second adjoining edge). A second method is to cut the base row by row according to the markings, align the strips made in this way centrally with respect to a column, connect the strips by means of a carrier material in the area of that column and then cut along the edges of the column. The remaining strips portions are then aligned centrally with respect to their respective columns, connected by means of a carrier material and cut.
Thus, in accordance with the methods of the invention, a base is made with markings and symbols which is reinforced by the plastic foil and/or the backing foil or material in such a way that the inaccuracies which arise when cutting in one direction--say, cutting row by row--are not added in with or onto the inaccuracies which arise when subsequently cutting perpendicular to the first cutting operation. Specifically in the case of the first-mentioned method, when the strips resulting from the first cutting operation are in the same sequence and alignment by means of the carrier material and are joined together again, what results is the original form of the base, and consequently the individual labels and the symbols and letterings of the individual labels lie in the same positions with respect to each other again. Thus a second cutting can take place without the first cutting having any influence on the shape, accuracy and direction of the second cutting, and consequently having any influence on the label edges resulting from the second cut.
In the second method, a row by row cutting takes place first, and then the individual columns are aligned centrally. This can be accomplished by laying them on a grating for example. Then all strips of a column aligned in that way are bound by means of the carrier foil or material, so that a cutting in the direction in which the columns extend can again take place without the course of such a cut being influenced by the course of the cuts which were previously made in the direction in which the rows extend. Preferably, the carrier foil or material used for reassembling the strips can itself be pliable--for example, the carrier foil or material can consist of a transparent plastic foil. If that is so, the cementing is naturally carried out in such a way that the carrier foil or material can also easily be pulled off again. Consequently, the labels of one column adhere to the carrier material after the cutting has taken place so that the user can select the desired label very easily and detach it from the carrier material in order to place it in the desired location.